This is a bit of a weird one but I am very much at the end of my tether here!

I am currently halfway thro transferring about 500 LPs to MP3. However, after recently moving house I find myself unable to play any vinyl at all. Each album I try to listen to jumps every 12 seconds (yes, its that precise!). Now I have tried to work out what is going on by a process of elimination. Firstly, I have tried 3 different turntables (including one brand new one) - same result. Secondly, I have tried the turntables in various rooms and positions - same result. In case ALL my vinyl has become identically warped, have borrowed vinyl from friends - same result. I have disconnected and removed my hi-fi speakers (in case they were interfering with payback) - same result.

After all these tests I have come to a conclusion - i.e. that some piece of electrical equipment, which sends out some kind of pulse every 12 seconds, is causing the problem. I don't know what else it could be.

Does anyone have any ideas, no matter how bizarre, as to what may be causing this problem??

Is the needle actually skipping (that is jumping the groove forward or backward) or are you just getting a click in the audio?

-brendan

Could you record it and post a short WAV, say 5 seconds or so (a couple seconds before and a couple seconds after the click)? Some of the vinyl experts here could probably deduce whether it's the turntable that's skipping or if it's coming from some other source.

bhoar - yes it is actually skipping. It sounds like something has nudged the turntable and is doing so every 12 seconds! Sometimes it gets stuck rather than skips, but again if you put the stylus anywhere on the album after 12 seconds it will happen again..
miximinus - thats a good idea, may not be able to do it for a couple days but I will get it sorted at the weekend

I can't think of any reason, other than a local vibration (any oil wells or Jurassic theme park islands nearby?), that this would be happening.

-brendan

• It could be some sort of consistent misadjustment of tracking force or antiskate that is common to all the tables. Try upping the tracking force to the maximum range.
• Zero out antiskate, set it to max, etc.
• Try playing with the dust cover on/off.
• Turn off all the appliances you have control over (ac/heating, fridge, washer/dryer). Computers are a longshot but you might try turning those off too.
• It might be a gross tonearm-cartridge mismatch. Which cartridges and tonearms have you tried? What are their compliances and effective masses?
• Does the tonearm feel loose in its bearings when it's moved around?
• Is the table level?
• What are you setting it on? Is it a table, or an entertainment center shelf, or a wall rack, etc?

Are you playing-back through a computer? Have you "eliminated" the computer by trying it with a regular stereo? With a computer, a "glitch" or gap could be caused by the driver, the soundcard/soundchip, the software, or by another program interrupting the CPU.

It's very hard to believe that the stylus is physically jumping out of the groove on every record and every turntable at the same time interval! ...That would be difficult to accomplish if you tried. I won't believe it 'till I see it, and then I probably still won't believe it!


NOTE - Windows is a multitasking operating system, and it is always doing stuff in the background even if you are only running one application. The soundcard has a "buffer" that allows it to keep recording data for a short time while the CPU and data bus are busy with other things. Under "normal" circumstances, the computer is fast enough to catch-up when the background operations are done.

With ref to the two emails above ...

Axon .. have tried most of the things you suggest, adjusted everything every which way, plus as I said tried out 3 different decks all of which worked fine just a few weeks before. The hi-fi is on a dedicated hi fi stand but yes I have moved it to all kinds of surfaces in all kinds of rooms. Literally I have tried putting it everywhere! I think switching off all appliances may be something to try ... I'll let you know.

DVDdoug... believe it. Either skips or gets stuck, one or the other. I thought I'd made a breakthough when I discovered it happened every 12 seconds, but it doesn't seem to relate to anything. And no, I'm playing it back through my stereo system, not my computer. I know what you mean about it being strange though. I've been listening to vinyl for 35 years and have never known anything like it...

Put turntable on some fat sponge, so it will reduce the possible vibrations coming from the floor. If it works, you have some vibrations coming from the floor.

OK. Are you sure it's physical and not something in the electronics? Can you see it jumping out of the groove? Can you hear the sound with the amplifier turned off? I don't play records regularly anymore... but I seem to remember that you could hear some sound from the pickup & tonearm with the electronics turned-off.

If it's an analog stereo, it would be impossible to simulate a "stuck" record. ...It would be unlikely with a digital system too. However, it is possible for the preamp to "cut-out" periodically.

Obviously it is not the TTs. Call in a priest. Make it a liberal priest; it might be important that you receive the message in full.

Very, very curious. You've used different turntables (presumably each having a different tonearm and cartridge, tracking weight and anti-skate). You've tried different rooms. You've tried different vinyl discs. You're not playing through a PC. You've turned off all possible interference sources.

So, what remains that is common about all of these situations you've tried? Have you changed interconnects? Pre-amp? Power amp? Speakers? Power cable? Power source? Have you taken your turntable over to a friend's house to test?

I'm fishing, clearly, but what is common to every time it skips/sticks?

Have you put a glass of water on the turntable stand to see if it ripples (a la "Jurassic Park") every 12 seconds? A vibration strong enough to bounce your stylus every 12 seconds would surely be something you'd see.

A cartridge has small, but very strong magnets inside. Is there some magnetic source nearby, or outside, that is activating every 12 seconds? Are you plugged into some sort of power conditioner that may be wonky?

Whatever this turns out to be, please post back here so we can sleep tonight.